An Empty House & Other Stories - Ron Weighell

In his introduction to the revised, Sarob Press, edition of his major collection The White Road (2017), Ron Weighell mentioned that his stories fall into four categories: ‘pastiches of M. R. James, Arthur Machen and Conan Doyle’ and material in his own voice. Of course, all the stories carry his own voice in one way or another, not least in revealing his remarkable knowledge of the history of ancient religion, ritual magic and hermeticism.

Ron was the author of about 55 stories and they are a substantial contribution to the supernatural fiction field, and of notably high quality.

His first published story was ‘Bishop Asgarth’s Chantry’ (Ghosts and Scholars 8, edited by Rosemary Pardoe, 1986), and it shows that he had already perfected the M R James tone, in particular the dry sense of humour (very difficult to get right) and the sly trick of the occasional withdrawal of the narrator’s reach, as when he says that he does not quite know some aspect of the story.

The plot is also in vintage Jamesian terrain, indeed it is essentially a variant on ‘ “Oh Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad” ’, with a fussy scholar on holiday who unwisely takes a talisman away from an old ruin. We are treated, in addition, to a scruffy second-hand bookshop and indeed bookshop-owner. The climax of the tale is adroitly handled, with just the apt amount of gruesome detail seeping out from a seemly reticence. All in all, here is a story very close to the James ideal.

Following this story, Rosemary Pardoe issued a booklet of four stories, An Empty House and Other Stories from her Haunted Library imprint (1986). The title story concerns the investigations of an academic among the papers of a young curate who had corresponded with the 17^th century alchemist Elias Ashmole. These are in the library of an old rectory, and the story nicely evokes the draughtiness of such a place in a bleak December, and the character of the amiable if bumbling incumbent. This plot is also about the unwisdom of disturbing ancient relics, but in this case enriched by a sort of treasure hunt, following a series of recondite clues. The skilfulness of the clues, and the artful use of magical symbols, gives an extra dimension to the story.

‘Diminish Like the Word’ is a variation on ‘Casting the Runes’ in which there is more bookish pleasure in the contemplation of a catalogue over breakfast, though on this occasion it leads to the purchase of a fateful work and the ire of an occultist. Unlike in most James stories, there is a resourceful and determined female character, a welcome development in the exclusive bachelordom of the Jamesian mode. The denouement is neatly devised.

‘The Box Parterre’ pays tribute to ‘Mr Humphreys’ Inheritance’: the mild-mannered protagonist unexpectedly inherits a manor house with a neglected landscaped garden, including topiary and a croquet lawn. The gardener he employs to restore this uncovers a classical statue, which is re-erected. Meanwhile, a visiting friend finds some curious speculations in a strange old book in the library. The reader can soon make a pretty good guess at what is to transpire, but nevertheless we enjoy the sinister unfolding of the tale, which is achieved with nice touches of humour, some highly recondite scholarship, and even sidelights on the devilries of croquet.

‘The First Turning of the Second Stair’ is, as the narrator remarks, a story based upon the suspiciously ill-favoured house which turns out to have a sitting tenant of a particular sort, and it is notable for having a persuasive transcript of a 17^th century trial similar to that in James’ ‘Martin’s Close’, full of the vigorous language of the time and some singular evidence, recounted with Pepysian panache and humour.

What these stories establish is that Ron Weighell was from the beginning a very capable Jamesian votary, better indeed than some of those authors of the mid-20^th century who were thought of as followers of James. He is much closer to the Jamesian qualities than they often are, there is a good deal of delicately-deployed arcane scholarship on matters both major and minor, and the tales make for most agreeable reading.

Ron Weighell was one of a group of highly accomplished contributors to the early issues of Ghosts & Scholars who excelled at the Jamesian style – others include Roger Johnson, A F Kidd, David Rowlands and Peter Shilston – resulting in a late 20^th century flourishing of the antiquarian ghost story, guided by Rosemary Pardoe, which was better in total than anything in this way since James himself.  

(Mark Valentine)